Laura ([info]lauraelizabeth9) wrote in [info]mondmagique,
2011-08-10 18:40:00
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Tutorial 001. How to Use Masks

This is a quick tutorial on how to go from  to   using masks. This is my first ever tutorial, so if you're confused about anything, ask away! Feel free to ask any questions afterwards! :)


1. First, I start out with an image that I've sized down, then copied and pasted onto a blank canvas. I won't go into how I colored it since that's a bit off-topic. 



2. Then I choose a texture/background that I like or make a gradient depending on the image and what I have on hand, and open it in a new tab. This time I chose to make a gradient background since I didn't have a texture that quite matched this image.



3. Next, I copy and past the gradient background ONTO the image. Then I go to Layer > Layer Mask > Hide All. Make sure that the layer with the background is selected when you do this step. In this case, layer 2. Also, there's a little 4-cornered box-type thing that should be around the mask. Make sure it's around the mask, and not the image itself. You can see what I'm talking about if you look at the layers tab below.



4. Now you select the brush tool.

 
5. The next step is to pick the brush size. Depending on the size of the image, I always go with a rather large brush to start out with, and then I decrease the size as I get closer and closer to Serena's body. First off, I'm going to go with about a 64 px with 51% hardness. with hardness, the lower the percentage is, the softer the brush is. If you go at 100% it's a very hard, clean cut but you have a better chance at cutting things out that you don't want cut out. At 1% hardness, you won't get a clean, crisp cut at all. You might want to start out low to begin with, until you get the hang of masks. That's what I did, and then moved up once I got comfortable. I still don't work with brushes at 100% hardness, it's a little too severe for me. I like to go right down the middle.
 


6. Now that I've got the brush size picked out, I start brushing over the parts I want cut out. Now, I've gotten as close to Serena as I feel comfortable with this size brush. 
 
 
7. Now, I want to go down to about a 19px brush, and slowly take out the rest of whatever I don't want. If i mess up, I just go to edit > undo. Simple. I usually magnify the image when I get down to the nitty gritty like this. On an icon, usually 300-400% but on a large image like this 200% will usually do it. when I get to Serena's elbow, I go down to about a 9px so that I can get into that tight corner. And voila, finished product!
 
 
8. Here's a cap of the layer's toolbar up close. Now, you can see that on the mask, everything in white is what I took out, while the black is everything I left in.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



 
Tags: type: tutorial

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  • 23 comments

[info]scwolf_10k

August 10 2011, 23:04:21 UTC 9 months ago

I've always gone the complicated way whenever I wanted to take a piece out of a photo and put it on another background. Never thought of using masks before. Thanks for this tutorial, it makes the whole process much easier :)

[info]lauraelizabeth9

August 10 2011, 23:13:51 UTC 9 months ago

Sometimes I'l do the complete opposite and paste the full image onto a background and use the erase tool, but that's pretty much the same process as above. But I never cut the image out, mainly because I don't know how to cut out things. I first tried with masks and it's never failed me so I haven't bothered with other methods.

Thanks, I'm really glad you found it useful! :D

[info]scwolf_10k

August 10 2011, 23:19:48 UTC 9 months ago

I sometimes start with the erase tool, and then zoom in and erase the smaller bits and pieces as well. And sometimes I go for cutting the part/person I need. And almost always end up doing it all over because I select a wrong pixel or something lol But when all goes well, I cut the part off, and then go over the edges with the erase tool again, to clean up any extra pixels. It can get annoying sometimes, depending on the photo I'd be working on :)

[info]lauraelizabeth9

August 10 2011, 23:25:02 UTC 9 months ago

Years ago when I used photofiltre I used a tool similar to the cut out tool and I never got a clean cut because my hands aren't steady. A lot of icon makers say that they don't use masks because it takes a lot of patience and a steady hand, so theoretically masks should not work for me at all but somehow, they're the only thing that does.
The only bad thing about them is sometimes it's hard to make it look natural, and not like you just pasted the image onto a bg. I assume that if you use the cut out tool you don't encounter that problem, because it's very precise.

[info]simplyn2deep

August 11 2011, 04:45:44 UTC 9 months ago

this way is a bit easier. I liked it.

thanks!

[info]lauraelizabeth9

August 11 2011, 04:51:54 UTC 9 months ago

I'm glad you found it helpful! :D

[info]strikske

August 11 2011, 05:05:32 UTC 9 months ago

Thank you for this. I always forget about masks and when I'm finished I will remember that masks are easier.

Will add this to my memories and hope I don't forget again;)

[info]lauraelizabeth9

August 11 2011, 05:08:38 UTC 9 months ago

Oh, I would be so lost without them. I don't know how I did anything before I learned how to use them lol.

I'm really happy you found this tutorial to be useful! :D

[info]sastiel

August 11 2011, 06:24:04 UTC 9 months ago

Wow! Okay. Thanks so much for posting this AMAZING tutorial! Seriously I'm so happy right now!

Btw: Your coloring is gorgeous!

[info]lauraelizabeth9

August 11 2011, 07:45:41 UTC 9 months ago

It's no trouble at all, I'm glad that you found it helpful! :D

[info]bunnyechoes

August 11 2011, 16:35:20 UTC 9 months ago

Hey! Thanks for writing it up, it's really useful! <3

[info]lauraelizabeth9

August 11 2011, 19:20:20 UTC 9 months ago

I'm glad you found it helpful! :)

[info]yesalmen

August 12 2011, 03:37:28 UTC 9 months ago

oh really interesting, I almost always cut the image and put it on a background but learning something new is good.
Thanks.

[info]lauraelizabeth9

August 12 2011, 17:23:42 UTC 9 months ago

No problem, I'm glad you were able to find it useful! :)

[info]sgafirenity

August 12 2011, 05:26:27 UTC 9 months ago

I usually just use the erase tool but this is definitely an interesting way to do it. I might have to try it next time.

[info]kateliciously

August 12 2011, 15:40:42 UTC 9 months ago

Wow, this tut is awesome. I'm saving it and will try it out as soon as my laptop works again :D

[info]lauraelizabeth9

August 12 2011, 17:26:28 UTC 9 months ago

Aw, thanks bb! Glad it was of some use to you! :D

[info]haldir_lives13

August 12 2011, 16:08:55 UTC 9 months ago

This is amazing, thank you so much. I've been doing it the hard way for so long!

[info]lauraelizabeth9

August 12 2011, 17:27:15 UTC 9 months ago

No problem, I'm so glad you were able to find this useful! :D

[info]ambersuite

August 13 2011, 01:06:24 UTC 9 months ago

this is very helpful! ty for sharing.

[info]sheddingink

August 22 2011, 07:32:01 UTC 9 months ago

Thank you I think this will be helpful with pictures of real people. My usual method is to use the freehand tool and slowly outline and erase bits of the pictures around my intended subject. This works great with drawn subjects (like an anime screen cap) but not so much with people because we don't have defined outlines.

Deleted comment

[info]lauraelizabeth9

September 4 2011, 21:27:57 UTC 8 months ago

Oh, I'm so glad it was helpful to you!
I love when people send me things that they made with my tutorials! :D

[info]xx_lotte

February 7 2012, 15:10:33 UTC 3 months ago

Thank you so much for this tutorial :)
i was wondering, how did you make that background? Do you normally get your backgrounds from other people? (so yes where?)
:)
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